Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma dismissed criticism of his organisation’s work on Sri Lanka during his tenure, claiming that it is only now that positive results are seen from his engagement regarding human rights.

In an interview with The Hindu, Mr Sharma defended the Commonwealth, stating it “is not a boutique organisation; it is a great global good”.

On Sri Lanka, the Secretary-General said,

“I made five visits to Sri Lanka, but you can’t keep on talking about it in public for the reason that work has to be done below the radar to carry political conviction”.

“The results become visible at the end,” claimed Mr Sharma.

Mr Sharma had come under immense criticism over his handling of Sri Lanka, as he engaged closely with then president Mahinda Rajapaksa – a man who stands accused of directing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He was accused of being “shamefully silent” on Sri Lanka’s rights abuses by international NGOs and had previously written off calls for an independent investigation into war crimes as "impractical".

Members of the Commonwealth also criticised the Secretary-General, with Canada’s special envoy to the Commonwealth, Hugh Segal, accusing him of "acting as a shill [a stooge] for the Sri Lankan leadership, defending their every mistake".

A rally was held in Jaffna today to mark World Water Day and highlight the importance of clean water.

The rally saw hundreds of people march through the streets with placards calling for the preservation of clean water.

Sri Lankan police have arrested over a dozen Indian citizens over charges of violating their visa regulations, according to reports.

In Kattankudy two Indian nationals were arrested for reportedly selling textiles, whilst another was arrested in Mannar for selling sarees, reports Colombo Gazette.

Meanwhile The Island reports 12 Indian citizens were arrested in Kattankundy over the weekend.

The Sri Lankan government rejected a United Nations Special Rapporteur report on caste-based discrimination on the island, labelling it “incorrect, inaccurate and misleading”.

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council, Sri Lanka said a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues was “inaccurate and completely misrepresentative of reality in respect of society and societal formation or structures in Sri Lanka”.

UN Special Rapporteur Ms Rita Izsak-Ndiaye's report earlier this year mentioned Sri Lanka in part of its global overview of caste-affect groups.

The Sri Lankan government though rejected its findings. “It is completely incorrect to state that people in Sri Lanka are under pressure to follow caste based employment,” said Sri Lanka.

“Untouchability, as stated in the report is not a feature one would find in Sri Lanka society at all,” the representative continued. “The term “Dalit” has no relevance whatsoever in the context of Sri Lanka There is no community or caste identified by such nomenclature in Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lanka also claimed Ms Izsak-Ndiaye said three different castes existed on the island – “Sinhala, Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Tamil” - and slammed it as “completely erroneous”.

However, the Special Rapporteur had in fact stated in her report that each of the three communities operated “three parallel caste systems” and that “caste discrimination is found in each one”.